It happens sometimes that we leave the key of the entry door in some secret place. Once we find it, we can access the house again. Similarly, some New Testament authors put the “key” to their writing at the end of their book or letter. This key provides insight into the character of the epistle or book and gives a clue how to read, understand, and interpret it. It is striking that the Holy Spirit uses the word unhindered as the very last word of the Book of Acts.

The new testimony that the Lord had started in Acts 2, after He sent the Holy Spirit from heaven, continued on, as Luke reports in Acts. It was opposed in many ways and was hindered, but God was at work and His work cannot be stopped. Even though the apostle Paul was chained in a Roman prison, the work continued, and many got saved. He describes this in several of the letters which he wrote from prison: the gospel advanced (Phil. 1:12), the work continued, and he, Paul—although in prison—was able to be an instrument to encourage others.

The Lord was in control, and so He is today. He used the circumstances Paul found himself in to further His interests in the gospel and in teaching. It was there, in this “rented lodging,” that Onesimus, a runaway slave, was saved. There people came to visit Paul and heard about the claims of the Lord Jesus Christ. There soldiers must have heard things they had never heard before. There God’s work continued—unhindered. The enemy could not stop it. And so the Lord continues His work today, despite failures, persecutions, killings, imprisonments—and will do so until He comes again.